Things Fall Apart Quote Analysis

Society shapes us from the moment we are born into who we become and continues to shape us throughout our lives. In Things Fall Apart Okonkwo must change the society that he is surrounded by. Okonkwo resists changing his identity - even when he is sent into exile - and ultimately comes to a tragic end when he refuses to adapt to the changes in his village after the arrival of the Europeans. He was not changed when he was exiled and could not handle the new village when he returned. Okonkwo embraced the ideals of masculinity championed by his tribe in Umuofia, but he eventually took it too far. When the community around Okonkwo changes because of the arrival of Christianity and Europeans, he struggles to accommodate himself with different

He is taken in by his uncle and given lots of chances to fit into this village. We do not see much change from him here and how he was in the previous society. During his time at Mbante shows that he struggles understanding and controlling his emotions, one quote is, “Okonkwo felt a cold shudder run through him at the terrible prospect, like the prospect of annihilation. He saw himself and his fathers crowding round their ancestral shrine waiting in vain for worship and sacrifice and finding nothing but ashes of bygone days, and his children while praying to the white man’s god.”(Achebe 153). This quote shows how much fear Okonkwo has when he learns Nwoye has converted. He does not have control over this and that only fuels the fear. This foreshadows how he will react since we know from previous experiences he reacts with violence when he feels fear. "Let us not reason like cowards," said Okonkwo. "If a man comes into my hut and defecates on the floor, what do I do? Do I shut my eyes? No! I take a stick and break his head. That is what a man does. These people are daily pouring filth over us, and Okeke says we should pretend not to see.”(Achebe 158). This quote shows how Okonkwo has not changed with this society and still is resorting to violence. He is threatening to break a man's head after talking about more white men coming and converting others to worship one god. We see how although changing societies, Okonkwo did

This changed society shocks Okonkwo especially because he was not expecting the change. As a result, Okonkwo is fearful about how his new life will be here. “If Umuofia decided on war, all would be well. But if they chose to be cowards he would go out and avenge himself. He thought about wars in the past. The noblest, he thought, was the war against it. In those days Okudo was still alive. Okudo sang a war song in a way that no other man could. He was not a fighter, but his voice turned every man into a lion.”(Achebe 200). We see that Okonkwo is resorting to violence. This was common in his past and after changing societies and societal values Okonkwo has not changed his. One thing that is different is how he looks for others to support his violence. “Then they came to the tree from which Okonkwo's body was dangling, and they stopped dead.”(Achebe 207). This quote shows us the effect of changing societies can have on us, especially when we have different beliefs. Okonkwo returned to his village and called for violence to solve the problem of European arrival but when it was not supported he gave up. At first we see that even after changing societies multiple times Okonkwo's values had not changed. However, he entered a new society and was an outcast since his values were not shared and how greatly this affected Okonkwo. This tells us what impact societies can have on the individuals